To Extricate from an Undesirable State
by Leesa Perrie
Summary: Another planet with an Ancient outpost leads to hurt/comfort for two of the team.


**To Extricate from an Undesirable State**

**By Leesa Perrie**

_Set Season 4, after Spoils of War, before Midway._

_A/N: Title comes from the description of the 'rescue' from an online thesaurus._

_Written for the Fall 2008 Fic Exchange on sgahcchallenges on LiveJournal for greyias – prompt at end of fic._

The gate was situated partway up a mountain, on a plateau that contained a large lake. Fortunately the lake started a good three hundred feet away, but even so, John had to wonder why the Ancients had placed the gate here. Surely there was a chance that the lake could fill up and flood the area, unless there was a natural drain somewhere, which he supposed could be possible. After all, he wasn't exactly a geologist. Shrugging, he decided not to worry about it. Although it was raining, sleeting actually, it wasn't enough to make the lake a danger to them in the immediate future, and that was all that really mattered right now.

"Wonderful. No one said it would be snowing," McKay muttered in annoyance, before shivering.

"It's not," John replied. "It's rain with a bit of sleet here and there, not snow."

"Still cold," Rodney complained, stamping his feet to warm them up, even though they'd only just arrived and they couldn't be all _that_ cold just yet. John rolled his eyes, sharing an amused look with Ronon.

"So, any energy readings? I thought you said there was an Ancient outpost somewhere around here."

"I said that according to the Atlantis database, there was an Ancient outpost here ten thousand years ago. A lot can happen in that time," McKay corrected him as he dug out his scanner. "Hmm…"

"Is that a good 'hmm' or a bad 'hmm'?" John couldn't resist asking.

"What? It's a 'there's an energy signal' hmm. Looks like it's coming from," Rodney looked up, moving the scanner around before sighing, "All the way over there." He pointed to the ridge situated at the end of the lake, looking thoroughly disgusted at the distance. "Great, just great, why do we always have to walk? I know, let's go back and get a jumper…"

"Nah, the walk will do us good," John said, looking at the distance. A good twenty to thirty minutes walk, he figured, before automatically factoring in the McKay element and making it forty to fifty minutes instead. Forty to fifty minutes of complaints and non-stop whining no doubt, he thought to himself with a wry grin, more than used to his team mate's idiosyncrasies by now. "Besides, there might not be anywhere to park, it looks like the lake goes up to the plateau's edges on two sides, possibly also at the end there."

"Well, how are we supposed to get over there in that case? Swim? Because I wouldn't suggest that even on a nice warm day, that water looks freezing."

"There's steps," Ronon stated, pointing behind the gate. "Probably lead to a track."

"Oh goody," McKay groused.

"Come on, the sooner we get there, the sooner you can play with the cool Ancient tech," John said, heading over to the steps, aware of Ronon taking their six.

"Huh, right. Cool tech is only cool until it tries to kill you," the disgruntled scientist moaned. "The energy signal's not very strong, what's the betting they forgot to turn off the heating when they left and the ZPM or whatever is on its last legs? Which is highly inconsiderate of them. You'd think they could power down their outposts before leaving. You know, preserve the power source for those who come along later." There was a brief pause. "Are you sure we can't bring a jumper through? Surely we could find somewhere to land. Did I mention that I might be coming down with a cold, and even if I wasn't, this weather will definitely give me one. I can feel it my sinuses blocking up already, _and_ my feet hurt…"

John shook his head at the complaints. It was going to be a long walk, he thought dryly.

* * *

They had _finally_ reached the source of the energy readings after a long and gruelling trek up the mountain. The ridge they'd seen from a distance turned out to be an Ancient building, camouflaged to look like part of the mountain. It was very cleverly done, McKay thought to himself, the metal coloured and sculptured carefully to match the surrounding rocks. It was also very disconcerting, as they were walking on the roof of the outpost, with a great view of the plateau below and absolutely _nothing_ to stop them from going over the edge if they should get too close. Not to mention the thousands of years worth of dirt that had built up, making the roof slippery with mud.

Rodney surveyed it gloomily. It was also, just to add insult to injury, perfectly adequate in size for a jumper to land and still have room to spare, though when he muttered the same to a certain messy haired colonel, it had been met with a nonchalant shrug. Damned military masochist.

Just to make it matters _even_ worse, there was no sign of a door into the outpost. Presumably it was also camouflaged, but there were no pillars or rock formations nearby that might be it.

"So, where's the door?" Sheppard asked, earning himself a glare.

"Oh right, of course I know where it is, I just thought we'd wait out here for a while, enjoy the lovely weather, the scenic view…" he sniped, before the colonel interrupted him with a drawn out, "McKay". He huffed in annoyance. "I don't know - _yet_."

"Well, it's got to be here somewhere."

"Yes, thank you, very helpful, Colonel. I hadn't realised that. Perhaps your ATA gene could magic it open?" He ignored the rolled eyes, using the scanner to try and pinpoint the door's location. There should be energy going to the door, but his scanner wasn't picking it up. Maybe the Ancients had shut down the power to it, but that didn't make sense. Why leave whatever was inside running and not the door to get into it?

"Over here," Ronon said.

"What?"

"The door."

Slowly making his way over, he stalled when he realised that Ronon was pointing to something situated virtually on the edge of the roof, giving Sheppard time beat him to it.

"Come on, McKay, it's safe enough." The colonel beckoned him over.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Just stay on this side of it and you'll be fine," Sheppard said, indicating the side furthest from the 'fall to certain doom' side of whatever they were looking at.

"Okay," he said, nervously edging his way over. Sure enough, there was a vague oblong shaped outline in the dirt. "Hmm, the mud's covered it. Maybe a hatch? We're lucky the shape is still discernable with all this muck on top of it."

"So, we dig?" Ronon asked.

"I guess so," he replied with a sigh, looking at the mud in distaste. "Maybe we should take it in turns. You go first," he suggested hopefully. Ronon snorted. "What? There's not enough room for us all to dig at the same time…"

Sheppard shared a look with Ronon that clearly stated that they both knew his game, but he ignored it, busying himself with the scanner.

"I'll see if there is something we can use to dig with, for some reason we didn't think to pack shovels," Sheppard said, dryly. "There might be a handy shaped rock on the path up, or maybe one of those spindly trees…"

"I'll go," Ronon said, making his way off the roof. The colonel shrugged and let him.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Ronon returned with a small slab of rock and started to scrape the dirt away from the hatch. John took over after fifteen minutes and managed to expose the hatch before it was Rodney's turn, much to the scientist's obvious relief.

"Okay, over to you," he told McKay when his attempts to open the hatch failed. "Maybe there's a lock."

"Or it could just be fused shut after all this time," came the muttered reply, but Rodney knelt down and started checking for a lock with only the slightest grimace and complaint about the mud.

John was just beginning to think that they'd have to go back to Atlantis and return with a blow torch when the hatch suddenly started to open. Unfortunately, McKay had ended up on the side of the hatch closest to the roof edge, something he should have seen and pointed out to the distracted physicist, but now it was too late. As the hatch opened, it hit Rodney with just enough force for him to fall backwards. His feet hit the edge of the roof, and for a moment he thought that McKay had caught his balance and that Ronon, who was already moving towards the hapless Canadian, would be able to pull him back, when the mud beneath Rodney's feet suddenly crumbled and he fell, screaming.

Carefully, not wishing to join Rodney in his descent despite the urgency of the situation, John moved to the edge of the roof, spreading his weight and looking over, fully expecting to see the physicist in the lake approximately fifty feet below, but there was no sign of him.

"McKay," he shouted, and then switched to his comm. "McKay!" Receiving no reply, and still seeing no sign, he wondered if Rodney had sunk too deep or had gotten mixed up about up and down, as he'd heard could happen, and was drowning. Then he noticed that the lake didn't come all the way to the rock face below him and that there was a small square shaped rock formation with a hollow middle protruding into the lake surface. Maybe Rodney had fallen into that?

"Ronon, I can't see him in the water, but there's a sort of hole or…or…drain, maybe? I can't tell from here, but he may have fallen into that. Go back to the gate, we need climbing equipment…"

"On it," Ronon said, already turning to go.

"Bring a jumper back, it'll save time getting here," he called after the retreating Satedan, a wave of acknowledgment his only reply.

Telling himself that he was most likely being stupid, he checked the rock face below him for handholds, knowing that if Rodney was in that structure he could be in urgent need of medical attention. Having assessed it as being climbable, he started down, having to move over to one side about a quarter of the way down due to a lack of handholds, so that he was no longer over the possibly-a-drain feature. He just hoped he could move back on course further down. It was hard going and taking far longer than it should, and he was acutely aware of time passing.

He was over halfway down when his handhold gave way unexpectedly at the same time that his foot slipped on the wet surface. He only had a moment to think 'oh shit,' before he was falling into the freezing water below.

* * *

He was falling. Panic coursed through his veins as he plummeted, flailing, looking for any kind of purchase, and then suddenly his hands hit rock, not long enough to grab hold, but enough to slow his descent, just a little.

Then he hit rock with an oomph and a scream, sliding on his side as the rock angled away from him, down and down until he came to a sudden stop, pale light above him and darkness looming below.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," he moaned, amazed that he was still alive. He took a few moments to collect his scattered thoughts and took stock of his injuries, carefully testing for pain. Even more amazingly, there seemed to be no broken bones or sprains, though he could have internal injuries for all he knew. Certainly, he could feel many, many bruises, with the bruising aching deep across his stomach and left side. His hands felt scraped, but in the dim light it was hard to see for certain.

He was alive and relatively unharmed. A few more moments passed as he marvelled at his aliveness, and then he activated his comm - and got no reply.

Crap, crap, crap. Something in the rock must be interfering somehow, and Sheppard and Ronon would be worried. Maybe they would think he'd drowned in the lake…and why hadn't he? He'd thought the lake came up to the foot of the ridge.

Pushing that aside, he realised they might think he was dead and panic gripped him again at the thought of being left behind. Left behind, hurt (okay, not badly, unless he was bleeding internally) and alone in a small, dark place.

And cold.

Damn it.

There was no choice, he had to try and climb out of here.

Great, just…great.

Reaching up he was startled to find metal. A rung? Feeling about himself, he felt more rungs, some buried in dirt, but there. A ladder!

Climbing wasn't as easy as it sounded; his hands hurt, his body hurt and every so often there were rungs missing, making him have to find other hand and footholds, but he was surprised at how relatively quickly he managed to reach the top of the...whatever it was.

He pushed himself out of the tunnel just in time to see the idiot-also-known-as-Sheppard fall from the rock face and into the lake.

The idiot-also-known-as-Sheppard who presumably had been climbing down to rescue him.

Crap, crap, crap. Damned macho, heroic, has-to-rescue-everyone-himself, Mensa-his-ass, blockhead.

He watched as Sheppard came to the surface and started treading water.

"Sheppard, over here," he shouted, and was pleased to see John turn towards him and start swimming.

He was only about ten feet away when he went down…

…and didn't surface.

"Damn it, what the…" he started to say, when a fin cut through the surface in front of him. "Oh crap." He grabbed his 9mil and hoped beyond hope that it hadn't jammed or something equally as catastrophic and fired, over and over again at the creature.

Blood poured from it as it swam away from him, only to be attacked by another shark-fish-creature moments later.

Sheppard resurfaced further out, about twenty feet away. Battered and barely conscious, he started to sink again.

Before he knew what he was doing, he'd stripped off his tac vest and was in the freezing cold-how-could-anything-live-in-this water, glad to see John surface again but dismayed as he again slipped beneath the surface just as Rodney had almost reached him.

"Oh no, you're not dying on me now, not when I've jumped into shark infested waters for you," he grumbled, before taking a deep breath and diving after his asinine team leader - and friend.

The water was remarkably clear and he was able to make out Sheppard's form below him. He swam down, struggling against the water and wishing he was a better swimmer, wishing he wasn't hurting so much and hoping he didn't run out of breath.

Damn, it would really help if Sheppard tried to swim back up instead of just sinking like some cold but not dead, no way was he dead, body. If the shark-thing had finished with the other one, or if there were more nearby… He mentally shook his head, he couldn't think about that, he just had to grab John and get him back to the surface.

Lungs straining against the lack of air, finally, after what must have been seconds but seemed like hours, he grasped sodden clothing and was able to get behind Sheppard, pulling him against his chest with an arm hooked around the colonel tightly, and pushed upwards.

His clothes and the dead weight of his friend tried to pull him, pull them, back down. His lungs were burning fiercely and for a moment he thought he wasn't going to make it. The surface seemed so very far away, but he kept pushing upwards, kept going despite the pain, and slowly, so slowly, the surface approached.

Air, sweet, sweet air, and he was gasping and spluttering, but clinging to Sheppard with all of his might.

When his breathing settled enough, he spotted the structure he'd dived from, and started swimming towards it. So far, so very far… Was John breathing? Was he dead? No, no, he couldn't be dead. He couldn't be. How long had the colonel been under? Had he taken too long to find his friend?

His thoughts were interrupted as he banged into the structure. He looked up and realised that the walls were at least six feet high and smooth and, oh crap, he couldn't get up there, not on his own and certainly not with a not-dead-please-don't-be-dead Sheppard in tow.

Panicked, he swam along the front wall, looking for something, anything, that would help, and there, on the side wall, he spotted another ladder. Relief washed through him as he swam over to it, before despair quickly replaced it. How was he supposed the get John up there?

Shaking from the cold, he shook Sheppard sharply.

"Sheppard, wake up! You've got to wake up!" But if Sheppard wasn't breathing…

He shook him again, pressing his own back to the wall, a foot on a submerged rung, anchoring himself so that he could get a good grip on John. Nothing, nothing, nothing. He braced himself again and moved his arm lower, across the stomach, and pushed, hard. "Come on, John, come on, breathe, damn it." He did it again, and suddenly there was life. Water coughed up and spluttering and breathing. Breathing.

"Sheppard, wake up. Come on, you've got the whole breathing thing going, now try the whole conscious thing too. We've got a ladder to climb here, you know, and sharks circling and we really, _really_ need to get out of this freezing cold water, and you _so_ owe me for this. You're giving me your chocolate stash for a start, and don't think I don't know you have one, and maybe your beer too… Hey, if you wake up and climb this damned ladder, I might even share it with you."

"You? Share?" came the terribly weak and disbelieving answer.

"Yes, share. I am capable of it, I'll have you know. Can you climb?"

"No. Can…hardly…breathe…"

"Well, tough. We've got sharks in the water and the only way out is a ladder."

"Go…"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no. If you think I'm leaving you to die after what I've just been through to save you then you've got another think coming. And you're not getting out of owing me your life and giving me your stash, no way. Not happening."

"Rodney…"

"Not happening. So shut it and start climbing."

He turned Sheppard round and grabbed one of his hands, pushing it onto the nearest rung. "Grip it, damn you, I know you can do this."

"Pushy…" Sheppard replied breathlessly, but his hand gripped the rung nevertheless, and so did the other one when Rodney placed in on the same rung.

Slowly, laboriously, they climbed, with Sheppard trapped between the ladder and Rodney's chest, because he didn't want to risk John falling off. Once they reached the top, he clambered carefully up over Sheppard and helped pull the colonel's exhausted body onto the surface of the structure.

Looking round, he realised that there were three walls, all about seven to eight feet across and about twelve feet in length, the fake rock face of the outpost making the structure into a rough square. The water of the lake was several feet below…and suddenly it made sense. It was a drain, so that the lake never rose too high and flooded the gate.

Epiphany about the structure over, he checked Sheppard over for injuries.

"How on earth, or not earth in this case, do you get mauled by a damned shark and yet not be bleeding?"

"Don't…know… Not…complaining…" John said, coughing again and bringing up bile and more water.

"Ugh. Nice."

"Screw…you…"

"Hey, is that anyway to talk to your noble rescuer? I'll have you know that I jumped into _shark infested waters_ to save your ungrateful ass."

"Mmm… Think it…was…trying to…drown me…"

"What? The shark? I'm sure it was."

"Like…alli..gators…"

"Oh, you mean it was trying to drown you before eating you? Hmm. And considering that the blood it shed when I shot it attracted another one that fed on it, perhaps it wanted you blood free until it was ready to chow down on you…"

"Maybe… Don't…really care…"

"No, no I guess not." Rodney sighed. "Okay, so we're stuck here until rescue comes, and I don't know about you, but I'm cold and wet and probably hypothermic, so…" he trailed off.

"So…we get…warm…"

"Oh, and how are we supposed to do that, Colonel Ever-Optimistic? No dry clothes, no pack, no blankets, nothing to make a fire with…"

"Body heat…"

"Oh, no! No way! Surely Ronon has got back to the gate by now, the jumper won't be long, we can manage until then I'm sure…"

"You might…I don't…think I…can…wait."

"Oh crap."

"Yeah."

John didn't look any happier about the idea than he did, which was a comfort at least.

"I hope you're not suggesting skin to skin contact…"

"Just…" Sheppard coughed again. "No…no…skin contact. Not…right now."

"Okay. Okay, I guess this is no worse than being hugged by that man mountain. Damn, what is it with Ronon? Do all Satedans males hug?"

"Rod…ney…"

"Okay, okay, I know, prevaricating, sorry."

He lay next to Sheppard, face to face, and tentatively put his arms around him, feeling the colonel do the same for him.

"We're never, ever speaking of this, ever," Rodney said emphatically.

"Never," John agreed.

"And just what were you thinking anyway, climbing and falling off the cliff?"

"Was…trying to…save your…sorry ass."

"Oh right. Well, I was fine. Okay, not fine as such, I have bruises upon bruises and I'm probably bleeding internally, but fine enough to climb out of there with the help of a ladder."

"Wish…I'd…known…"

"Yeah, well the radios weren't working, but even so that was a stupid, idiotic, dangerous thing to do…"

"Like jumping…into…shark…water," Sheppard countered.

"That was different," he said gruffly, ignoring the huff of disbelief. "And just so you know, you _so_ owe me for that. I saved _your _sorry ass, and don't you forget it."

"I'm sure…you won't…let me."

"Ha, you can bet on that. I want your puddings for the next week, at least…"

"Sleepy…"

"Don't you dare go to sleep." Sheppard's eyes closed, so he jostled him awake. "Hey, no sleeping."

"Bully…"

"Well it makes a change for me to be the one doing the bullying," he groused. Damn, he was feeling sleepy as well, not to mention the pain on his left side was getting worse now. Maybe the fall really _had_ caused some internal damage? It'd just be his rotten luck to save Sheppard's life and then bleed to death while waiting for rescue.

"Okay, we really need to try and stay awake here," he told an unresponsive colonel. "You really aren't trying, are you? Damn it." He tried shaking him awake, but it wasn't working. "Just don't you dare die on me," he muttered sourly, before drifting into sleep himself.

* * *

John stirred, a slight humming sound making its way into his sleep fuddled mind. Huh, that was annoying. Opening his eyes seemed like a marathon, but somehow he managed it. Looking around without moving his head didn't give him the greatest of views, but still he made out a box-like object slowly manoeuvring down towards the water.

A jumper.

Rescue.

That was nice.

He drifted off again, only awakening briefly to grunt at his rescuers and disobey Keller's orders to stay awake.

But then, he'd never been good at following orders.

* * *

He awoke to the scent of the infirmary and the sound of quiet conversation. Mmm, warmth, and ow, pain, but muted, kind of fluffy in fact, now he thought of it.

Okay, pain meds, check. Hence the slightly floaty feeling.

"…you had us worried, John."

Teyla. Sheppard had worried her. Why?

Oh, right. Sharks, water, huddling for warmth… He felt his cheeks flame red at the latter image, envisioning the reactions of finding John and him like that must have provoked from their rescuers.

"Rodney will be fine. He is badly bruised and Jennifer says there is an internal bleed, but fortunately only a slow one that is responding to treatment, so he should not require surgery. You are bruised and swallowed some water, which has caused a chest infection. However, Jennifer believes we have caught it early and it should not turn into anything nasty. You will both be fine, so long as you _rest_."

He noticed the emphasis on the word 'rest' and rolled his eyes. Sheppard and rest didn't belong in the same sentence. Not really.

There was further murmuring, but he missed the words as he drifted in and out of sleep.

"We will leave you to sleep."

"Yeah, see you later."

Oh, Teyla and Ronon were leaving. Huh, he hadn't even realised Ronon had been there. Oh well, he'd talk to them later. When he was more awake.

Sleep beckoned, and he didn't resist its warm invite.

* * *

John was bored. Sure, he'd only been in the infirmary for a few hours, well, a few hours since waking up properly, but he was already totally and utterly bored. Teyla and Ronon had abandoned him so that he could rest, and Rodney was still out of it, snoring loudly and drooling gently onto his pillow.

A lovely sight, he thought sarcastically, before the voice of Major Lorne interrupted him.

"Colonel."

"Major. Thanks for the rescue."

"No problem," Lorne replied with a shrug.

"I hear it took some fancy flying to get the jumper down and to hold it in place while we were dragged on board."

"Nothing you couldn't have done, sir," Lorne said with a grin.

"True," he replied, ignoring the rolled eyes of his XO. "Still, I wished I'd been more awake to see it, must have been pretty impressive."

"Yeah."

There was a glint of amusement in Lorne's eyes that set John's alarm bells ringing. "You got something to say, Major?"

"Well, looked like a shame to break up your slumber party down there. I believe Doc said something about 'two cute puppies all snuggled up together'," Lorne said teasingly.

"Oh crap, she didn't?" a voice from the other bed said, and John turned to look into Rodney's appalled eyes.

"She did," Lorne confirmed.

"You know it was just survival, right?" John said to Lorne, firmly.

"I know, sir, standard survival technique. I'm sure the Doc knows that too, even if she did think you looked cute."

"Agh, _cute_," Rodney spluttered. "It was _not_ cute!"

"And it's not going into the report," John said, giving the major a look. "I'll deal with Keller, make sure she agrees to that too."

"Ah, well, you might want to talk to Ronon then, sir," Lorne said, a definite hint of mischief on his face.

"What? What did that Neanderthal do?" Rodney squawked, trying to sit up but grimacing in pain and giving up on the idea.

"Well, I was busy manoeuvring the jumper into place, but I believe he 'borrowed' Sergeant Wilson's camera…"

"Oh crap, he didn't. Please tell me he didn't," Rodney begged weakly, as Lorne smirked at them both. "Oh crap, he did."

"You didn't confiscate the camera?" John asked pointedly.

"Well, this is Ronon we're talking about here. I thought it unwise to try."

"Coward," Rodney muttered.

"Sure, McKay, and if the situation had been reversed, you'd have wrangled the camera out of Ronon's hands, right?" Lorne said archly.

"Point," Rodney conceded.

"Well, I'd better get back to the paperwork. Just wanted to make sure you were fine, sir."

"Right, of course you did," John said disbelievingly as Lorne left.

"Oh crap, that damned caveman took a photo of, you know…"

"Yes, Rodney, I _know_. Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

"Right, like that'll make a difference…"

"I'll talk to him, okay? I'm sure he'll be open to reason…or bartering…or something."

"Blackmail! Who would have thought it? Damn Judas…"

John sighed and closed his eyes, listening to McKay's rant about traitorous team mates.

Well, it was better than being bored.

Just.

The End

_A/N: __Written for the Fall 2008 Fic Exchange on sgahcchallenges on LiveJournal for greyias__, whose prompt was:_

_"Rodney has to rescue John, much to Sheppard's consternation.  
Do Not Want: Character bashing, extreme Shep whump (lesser than or equal to Rodney whump 3)"_


End file.
